Introduction to Sera Activities

Sera Monastery traditionally was in many ways a city unto itself, such that activities included ritual and educational programs as one would expect from a monastery, but also ranged widely into commercial activities, banking, security actions, entertainment, and much else. The richness of traditional monastic life can be seen in the life story of Geshé Rabten offered below, while Dreyfus’s essay offers a detailed portrayal of the educational and liturgical programs of Geluk monasteries such as Sera.